Ask an artist: Marnie Saskin really loves wool

Learning things.

This past week we did our first ever online workshop as guest facilitators with the Textile Museum of Canada. We had three runthroughs in advance of the event, because we agreed to open it up beyond our comfort level, but had great support from all involved.  It was great! and full- 42 people on the waitlist so we will likely do it again.

We are currently between grants so this is all volunteer for Works-in-Progress, but the benefits for our group are worth it. First, we are applying for grants to develop online materials and skills (because zeitgeist) so the experience is great. Plus, it is a great way to give back and fill a need in the maker community (because karma) And it was so much fun to meet the participants- people from Ohio, Yukon, Maine, North Dakota, London Ontario. The facilitators were in basements and kitchens and home studios in Toronto and Hamilton. And we are able to meet people beyond the teach in because of the huge maker community connected with the Textile Museum of Canada- many more people have been checking out our webpage, connecting on instagram and subscribing to the newsletter- welcome!

And finally, more benefits:  in my other hat I am a video editor/producer at Cityline and have a production company called HomemadeTV where I make videos with small groups and organizations celebrating community and telling stories. So I took the recorded workshop and made some shorter online resources like the one above.  This video is all about up-cycled wool sweaters as a inspirational material for artists and artisans, and properties of wool that make it so attractive to work with.

Marnie Saskin is a WIP artist but also has a home studio where she makes beautiful up-cycled goods (there's a few pix below.) She is an artist/scientist and knows a lot about wool through research and experimentation and experience and shares some of that knowledge in the video above. Check out the video or her website for more inspiration!